Chad faltered for a moment, realizing his Word Warrior abilities might not be as effective against these interdimensional beings as he'd hoped. Joell, Crystal, and Victoria caught his eye from across the room, giving him a simultaneous, reassuring nod.
Bas raised her hands, green energy crackling between her fingers. "Enough talk. Leave now, or we’ll be forced to defend the library against you!"
The battle erupted in full force. Magical energy crackled through the air as the L.A.W. witches unleashed their powers against the invading Aether Pirates. Chad stood his ground, channeling every ounce of his Word Warrior abilities.
"Stop!" he commanded, his voice reverberating with power. To his shock and dismay, only a few of the lesser Aether Pirates seemed affected; some were moving slowly but not stopping completely. Damien and Cassandra appeared completely unaffected.
Damien's laughter boomed through the library. "Your words have no power over us, boy! We've evolved beyond such simple manipulations."
Chad gritted his teeth, realizing he'd have to get creative. He focused his intention, visualizing his words as physical barriers. "Walls of unbreakable force, rise up and contain our foes!" A shimmering barrier materialized between the two factions.
Damien countered, “Walls down! Let the games begin!” The barrier dropped as quickly as it had appeared. He advanced toward the other side.
“Walls up!” Chad’s word warrior voice shouted. The barrier reappeared, and Damien was forced to a halt.
“Walls down!” Damien shouted back, moving forward again.
Chad glanced behind him. The witches who had come with him were too close. He didn’t want to retreat and put them in any more danger. “Walls up!”
Before the wall was fully formed, Damien yelled, “Walls down, and you’re coming with me!” He reached out and grabbed Chad’s wrist, yanking him to his side. “Now, walls up!”
Both warriors disappeared.
22
As the battle at the Library of Congress raged on, Chad found himself cornered by Damien. The Aether Pirate captain loomed over him, a dark aura pulsing around his imposing form.
"Join us, young Word Warrior," Damien said, his voice hypnotic and alluring. "I can teach you to harness the true power of your abilities. Together, we could reshape reality to whatever we want it to be."
Chad's mind reeled, torn between fear and a dangerous curiosity. For a brief moment, he imagined the possibilities. Like the ability to bend the very fabric of existence to his will. But then he thought of Brianna, of the L.A.W., of all they'd fought to protect.
"Never," Chad growled, mustering his courage. With a burst of adrenaline, he ducked under Damien's outstretched arm and sprinted down the parallel universe’s idea of the library. It was dark and musty. Perfect for hiding, until he could find his way back to the other side.
Chad's heart pounded as he raced through the twisted version of the Library of Congress. The shelves loomedimpossibly tall, books shifting and rearranging themselves as he passed. Shadows danced at the edge of his vision, and he could hear Damien's laughter echoing from multiple directions.
"You can't hide from me, boy," Damien's voice boomed. "This is my domain. Every shadow, every whisper… they all serve me here."
Chad ducked behind a massive bookcase, trying to catch his breath and think. He needed to find a way back to his own reality, but how? As he pondered his next move, a faint shimmer caught his eye. There, between two shelves, the air seemed to ripple and distort.
An anomaly. A tear in the fabric of reality and possibly his ticket home.
Before Damien could locate him, a memory surfaced. It was something Dr. Emerson had told him during their training sessions.The power of a Word Warrior comes not just from the words themselves, but from the intention behind them. Could he whisper a spell and get out of there before the pirate captain bound him to this reality, forever?
Chad closed his eyes, focusing all of his concentration on that shimmering anomaly. He pictured his friends back in the Library of Congress, fighting to protect their world. He thought of Brianna, her smile, her unwavering support. With crystal clear intention, he whispered:
"Portal, open for me, alone. Guide me home, to the witch’s crone. So mote it be."
To his amazement, the anomaly began to expand, the air shimmering and swirling into a discernible gateway. Through it, he could make out the familiar shelves of therealLibrary of Congress. Victoria and Rayna threw fireballs at the Aether Pirate, Cassandra. She ducked and weaved.
"No!" Damien's enraged roar shook the very foundations of the twisted library. "You will not escape me!"
Chad didn't hesitate. He dove through the portal just as Damien's grasping hands reached for him. He tumbled onto the floor of the library at Bas’s feet, the sounds of battle filling his ears and the smell of smoke filling his nose. “Portal close!” he shouted.
A hand pushed against the anomaly a split second after it closed. Bas threw a strengthening spell at it.
"Chad!" Bas's voice was filled with relief and concern as she kneeled by his side. "Are you hurt?"
He shook his head, still catching his breath. "No, I'm okay. But we need to find Dr. Emerson and the others before they get hurt by these remaining bastards."
